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Mark Hemsley, chief execu- tive officer of Bats Europe,
was quick off the mark to
express concern about the
impacts of the UK’s recent decision to leave the EU. He said
that if necessary, Bats would
open an operation in Dublin.

The exchange recently
announced the launch of its
MiFID II compliant block trading platform Bats LIS, which
incorporates technology from
BIDS Trading in the US. Shortly
after this, Euronext launched a
similar initiative and became the
latest European exchange to offer
large-in-scale trading services.

The Trade spoke to Hemsley
about whether his opinion on
Brexit remains the same and the
ensuing European block trading
battle.

Hayley McDowell: Bats
Europe expressed concern
after the EU referendum about
the UK’s access to the single
market, and even suggested
setting up shop in Dublin as a
result. Has your opinion on
this changed?

Mark Hemsley: Like everyone
else, we are waiting for clarity
on what exactly the framework
will be post-Brexit.

From our point of view,
we wanted to get a statement
out there to ensure our clients
understood that we will take
the necessary steps – which may
include having an entity outside
of the EU – to continue offering services to our clients in and
outside of the EU.

Bats Europe is a pan-European exchange and we arecommitted to being that in apost-Brexit environment.

Given the likely timing in instigating article 50, we are assuming
we have another two and a half
years to put something in place,
and there are situations which
would likely lead to Bats setting
up an operation in the EU.

For example, if the UK does
not get third party equivalence,
meaning there will be limitations
on our access to the EU, which
would hamper our business.

I mentioned Dublin because
of the legal framework and
labour laws, which are factors
that could be friendlier for a
business like ours.

However, we do believe the
majority of our operations will
continue to remain in London.

It’s about whether we would

The Trade speaks to chief
executive officer at Bats
Europe, Mark Hemsley
about whether his
opinion on Brexit remains
the same and the ensuing
European block trading
battle.